The planned Vida at 888 Ala Moana luxury condominium tower being developed by the Kobayashi Group and The MacNaughton Group received neighborhood board approval Tuesday night.

The Kobayashi Group and The MacNaughton Group have canceled plans to build the Vida at 888 Ala Moana luxury high-rise condominium project and develop a neighboring parcel that would have added a total of 500 residential units to Honolulu’s growing Kakaako neighborhood, citing slow sales in recent months, executives from the two Hawaii developers confirmed to PBN Friday.

“Primarily, it was the fact that we got off to a good start with our pre-sales, but over the past three to four months, there was a real slowdown in the market for Vida,” BJ Kobayashi, co-founder and partner of Kobayashi Group, told PBN. “Construction costs rising was probably one of the other factors.”

Construction costs in Hawaii, which jumped by a staggering 13 percent in 2014 — the highest percentage in the United States and more than double the national average.

The developers have canceled a contract with landowner Kamehameha Schools to purchase the two lots encompassing about six acres in Kakaako.

Kobayashi told PBN that plans to develop the block near Vida are also being shelved.

“We were pursuing the larger of the two projects first, [which was] Vida and [the other project] we were going to pursue after Vida,” he said. “We weren’t working on two sites simultaneously.”

The developers have met with Kamehameha Schools to discuss their decision, and said that the state’s largest private landowner “respects and supports” their decision. PBN reached out to Kamehameha Schools for comment Friday afternoon.

“We informed our buyers today [Friday] that we will discontinue sales for Vida at 888 Ala Moana Boulevard,” the developers said in a joint statement. “Vida was a luxury condominium project which was to be located on Kamehameha Schools land at the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Koula Street. Although the initial launch of Vida was a success with over 40 percent of the units sold, sales for this project had slowed in recent months.”

The developers noted that despite strong marketing efforts, community outreach and education about the up-and-coming Kakaako community, the market feedback indicated that it was premature to proceed with the Vida project at this time.

HAWAII AMERICANA REALTY

For the past 14 years, Mark G. Howard has practiced his skills as a licensed Realtor in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada and now Principal Broker & President of 'Hawaii Americana Realty', in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has gained a competitive edge in the real estate market by earning his status as an Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR).